I usually stop watching a show that's cancelled a couple episodes from the finale. My imagination is more then adequate to cone up with the cliche they are planning.

Ending a series anywhere leaves characters at a point where (unless they all died) their story continues. Closure is nice but a great man once said " if you want a happy ending it depends when you stop telling the story".

Tobb, I can only partially agree with you when you say, “A season should be a complete story with the possibility of more later.” I say: A season more often ends a storyline, than not, but there’s no right or wrong way to end a season. A good story is all that should matter, and a requirement to only write only for cancellations is closer to “making it up as you go” than the freedom of creating a story with significant depth.

In a season ending episode, if the current story concludes and a cliffhanger is introduced, I am virtually never upset by the cliffhanger should the series get cancelled. I could be upset by the cancellation, but not the cliffhanger.

You doubled down on Stockholm Syndrome. I didn’t make it to the end, just like it seems for the majority who commented here on Falling Water from its beginning. We walked out on our own because the writing pushed us away. It seems not many were captivated - quite the opposite. The analogy doesn’t even work for the general case.

My first comments were inspired by Suzanne’s well-placed commenting on cliffhangers in general, and on cancellations of series with ongoing stories. Should USA have contracted for the second (or first) season of Falling Water with no concern whether its story concluded or not? If networks (or series contractors) are not concerned and do not plan for how series (storylines) end, then why shouldn’t showrunners and writers write only for the best possible story? The very best series are ones with storylines that develop over multiple seasons, and were always designed that way.

sure you can be optimistic but, like many shows, have an open ended ending. Unless you end the entire universe you always have more story and will never truly end. A cliffhanger however is a "how will this person get out of this situation?" A cliffhanger is something that is designed to bring you back to see how it ends.
The network gave the full product. They said this is how many episodes you have creators.In ALL cases, they should consider a season as being the last one, even when unsure. A season should be a complete story with the possibility of more later.
If the creator do not have a guarantee for more episodes they have to know that that it is possible for the show not to be renewed. If they know it is possible and create a cliffhanger, they do it knowing it might not be resolved. This means they either don't care if it gets resolved and are saying "You fans don't deserve to get an ending." Or they are trying to force the network to give them more episodes or have the fans mad at them. Which is saying "give us more episodes or you wont see these fans again" That is holding fans hostage. You, by supporting the people who are holding you hostage, have Stockholm syndrome.
By defending the bad writing of the creators you are defending your hostage takers. You have Stockholm syndrome.

I'd love to see a streaming service revive this series... Yes, I know it's a bit confusing, but I think it's what makes it interesting!!! I think they could have moved the series to a different time of year!!!

@Tobb - your reasoning and your Stockholm Syndrome analogy do not quite work. The creators of shows like Falling Water are guilty for sure if they wrote their completely unfinished ending AFTER they knew their show was getting cancelled (and wouldn’t be picked up) - which seems terribly unlikely. One should expect creators to be optimistic about their series. I admit that most series feel like the story is being made up as it goes, which is sad, but even then, almost never is an ending not written when it’s known that it’s really the end. I do not absolve creators of all blame, but their responsibility pales when compared to that of networks.
Networks sell products to us and then prematurely remove support leaving us with incomplete products we never would have invested in had we known about the ripoff. The networks are in control of how this works. Creators and writers can design and write brilliantly but come up short (long) guessing someone else’s timeframe. In many cases, they should consider a season as being the last one, even when unsure. Yet the very best writing frequently spans a few seasons before it accomplishes its goals. I outlined below what the networks can and should do about it. And allowing that some cancelled series get picked up elsewhere is not a meaningful solution since viewers often are not purchasing the new service. Some series are so bad that networks need to cancel them post-haste. However, there should be very few of these where network executives are competent.

The creators of this show held the fans hostage with the ending. If you blame the network for the cliffhanger then you are siding with your captors. You have Stockholm syndrome.
Unless the show was given a renewal then the hostage takes should not have written the ending like it did.

Suzanne - The number of current TV series these days is monstrous compared to even ten years ago. Competition is creating havic with respect to series ending without an ending - which sucks! All your comments are dead on. I can deal with hanging cliffhangs fully introduced in the last episode, like what you described with Unforgettable. I can even deal with endings that are only 90% resolved. But how many are like watching half or two-thirds of a good movie, never to reach the end. But 20 times as much time invested. I don’t really like all this preparation for death - being yanked from the movie of life.

I appreciate when commenters scream about the executives making these decisions. I don’t like that condescending service troll telling people that all decisions are ratings based, because many are not. The deciders are frequently NOT doing what’s in their best interest. Their planning and decisions seem like they’re managing their toys.

Networks and producers need to work together better to plan for series to run long enough to have at least an ending of sorts. Even it’s just to have a few wrap-up episodes on contract to create upon cancellation. Or if there was a cliffhanger relevant to just the last episode, maybe have a segment to have all the actors discuss what was next that didn’t get filmed. Put it on the internet for viewing too. Instead, we have all these worthless half series, half movies, and perpetually pissed off viewers. I’m one of em.

I think the creators of Falling Water thought that having the story be challenging to figure out would work like a dream. I gave up frustrated halfway through the first season. I only watched inattentively but I don’t think that was the problem. I was attracted by the unique depiction of dreams but put off by the incoherence. Somehow it got a second season despite bad ratings. Their nightmare is over.

I'd love to know the stats on whether cliffhangers even increase viewers the next season any more. The days of "Who shot J.R." are long gone.

If showrunners feel they must have a cliffhanger, especially if the show is clearly in jeopardy, how about one separate from the finale's main story line?

On Unforgettable, when renewal seemed VERY unlikely, they wrapped up the case. Then out of the blue a man walks up on the romantic celebration and announced he was Carrie's husband.

So they managed a cliffhanger AND wrapped up the main story. If it isn't renewed, I can just drop that last scene from my brain or create my own ending. In this case the show was shockingly renewed for one more season, but if it hadn't been, I wouldn't have cared about the husband part.

I wish cliffhangers would just disappear completely. They have created a catch-22 which has to hurt ratings. I know A LOT of people who choose to wait for a renewal before even watching shows at all. That creates lower ratings causing the shows to be cancelled.

I know I am guilty of waiting to see if the season has an end before committing my time to watch almost any show. I even regularly ask on these boards if the shows are wrapped up. Yes, I know that makes me partly responsible for the cancellations.

Sorry for the long post, but CLIFFHANGERS ARE JUST ANNOYING.

Moe. they knew that this show was doomed. That is why they could have done a end show. I agree most shows who get cancelled have little fore knowledge. Which is why "the glades' ended with a lead character getting shot. And this is the case with many shows. I was sure cbs would keep zoo around as it was a summer show. I knew 'under the dome' was going out and they ended it well at least.